Vertical tubular bagging machines are used to create and fill tubular bags and are commonly known. A foil web unwound from a storage roller is reshaped on these machines into a vertically aligned foil tube by means of a forming shoulder. The foil tube surrounds a fill pipe for filling of the foil tube. The lower tube end is filled, welded and separated from the remaining foil tube in order to create tubular bags filled in this manner.
Depending on the type of bag to be created, varying forming shoulders and fill pipes are utilized. Generally, a forming shoulder consists of a one-part shoulder sleeve, over which the flat foil web runs in order to reach a guiding edge. The foil web is then reshaped at the guiding edge in order to move on as a vertically aligned foil tube after passing the guiding edge. The foil tube runs thereby through an annular passage, which is defined on the outside by a shoulder connection and on the inside by the fill pipe.
When packaging a flowable, for example powdery, product, it is common to use a worm-dosing means for the volumetric determination of the product mass to be packaged. The worm-dosing means consists of a dosing worm in a worm pipe. A drive rotates the dosing worm in the worm pipe. According to each one specified angle of rotation, the product volume given off by the worm-dosing means corresponds to the fill mass specified per tubular bag. The worm pipe is provided in the fill pipe.
The known tubular bagging machine has the disadvantage that it is relatively complicated to place a worm-dosing means into a fill pipe or to remove same therefrom. During insertion into the fill pipe, this relatively long and heavy assembly must be first lifted upwardly and then be let down again in order to move into the fill pipe. A relatively high installation space above the fill pipe is necessary for the installation of the worm-dosing means, which is up to 1.60 m long. In addition, this work cannot be done by one person alone.